Warhammer 40000: Speed Freeks review — A fun time with a lot of room to grow.

Before diving into this review please note that this game is in early access. I’m also not familiar with the Warhammer lore, but it didn’t matter because this game is a great time. I also played the majority of Speed Freeks on the Steam Deck at 30 fps and was happy with my experience.

Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks is a player vs player game that blends racing and shooting into one of the most fun vehicular combat games I have played in recent years. You race as an Orc, or as the game calls them, the Speed Freeks. The goal of the game changes depending on what game mode you choose. Regardless of the game mode, I think Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks is worth your time: I put two hours in and although I didn’t unlock much I enjoyed my experience and will be returning to the game as often as possible.

Customization and Vehicles

 

Everything on your car is customizable. You’ll be able to get new tires, rims, accessories, and paint jobs. You’re given a healthy amount of customization without purchasing the battle pass. Unfortunately, I ran into an account issue, something I will talk about further in the review, so I wasn’t able to save my custom cars.

The cars are interesting because they have classes. You can pick between buggies, tanks, and wagons. The wagons are the support class, tanks tend to have more health and/or can take more hits, and buggies deal the majority of the damage. Each vehicle also has distinct abilities. Some vehicles are locked, but over two hours I had no issue getting most of the roster.

Gameplay

Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks has two game modes. I like them both and found myself jumping between them often. The two modes are Kill Konvoy and Deff Rally. Yes, those are spelled correctly! Everything in Speed Freeks feels so stylized and I love it, despite being a touch annoying at times.

In Kill Konvoy you have to protect what’s called a Stompa. It is a giant, metal, gun-covered mountain. The enemy team is going to try to come to destroy it and you have to defend yours and destroy theirs. As you race around, you’ll find Mega Bombs that can be used to break the enemy Stompa faster. This is my favorite game mode because it’s generally easier to follow and I love watching the explosions.

Deff Rally is the racing game mode and it’s so damn fun to race and blow people up at the same time. You’re racing to capture points and as you do that you can battle the enemy team to try to take the point first. I don’t suggest playing Deff Rally until you have a handle on what’s going on because it gets chaotic fast.

The driving is extremely smooth across every vehicle. Each match gets very hectic and, when you’re first starting, it can be hard to follow what’s going on. Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freaks does not have an in-game tutorial. This is a huge issue because the game can be confusing for the first 30 to 40 minutes of playtime.

Final Thoughts

Warhammer 40,000 features an option battlepass that consists of cosmetics. Sometimes you’ll see an XP booster as well, but nothing within the battlepass gives you a game advantage. I like the cosmetics in Speed Freeks because they all look distinct enough to ensure that at some point no two cars will look the same.

Both of the game modes are fun, but without an in-game tutorial, it can be confusing to figure out what’s going on. The community-made tutorial on the home screen worked just fine for me and was all I needed to get started. This should be integrated into the game, though.

Plain and simple, Warhammer 40000: Speed Freaks is a damn good time. It’s free to play and runs well on the Steam Deck. If you’re considering giving it a try, I recommend it! There is a really solid foundation in this game and so much room to grow. I’m excited to see where Warhammer 40000: Speed Freeks goes in the future.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: